Journalism and freedom of expression trials: Week of April 17

This week, the hearings of numerous freedom of expression trials will be held. Below is the list of these hearings:

April 18th, Tuesday

• The second hearing of the retrial in which journalist Mehmet Güleş faces “making propaganda for a terrorist” organization charge will be held in the Elazığ 2nd High Criminal Court, at 10.10. Güleş who was a student and a reporter of the since-shuttered Dicle News Agency (DIHA) at the time was arrested on 7 December 2016 in Elazığ. The Elazığ Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted the journalist on 22 December 2016 with “membership in a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The prosecutor presented Güleş’s employment at DIHA, his phone conversations with news sources and colleagues, the events he covered and 20 social media posts allegedly shared by Güleş between 2013-2016 as evidence against the journalist. Arguing that Güleş’s statements should not be taken into consideration, the prosecutor claimed that “it has been understood that [Güleş] has the mentality of a member of the organization and that he carried out the orders given in line with the so-called KCK Agreement” and requested Güleş to be sentenced. At the hearing held on 3 May 2017, the Elazığ 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced Güleş to 6 years and 3 months in prison for “membership in a terrorist organization” and to 3 years 1 month 15 days for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” On 12 July 2017, the 4th Penal Chamber of the Gaziantep District Court of Appeals upheld the prison sentences imposed upon Güleş. Reviewing the appeal against the district court’s judgment, the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal against the prison sentence over the propaganda charge on the grounds that it was finalized with the judgment of the district court. The 16th Penal Chamber also ruled to approve the prison sentence over the membership charge. On 17 October 2019, the parliament approved the first package of the Judicial Reform and thereby opened the way for prison sentences less than 5 years to be also brought before the Court of Cassation. Reviewing the appeal against the prison sentence imposed upon Güleş over the propaganda charge, the 3rd Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled to overturn the conviction. The 3rd Penal Chamber reasoned that the prison sentence imposed upon Güleş was increased without proper reason and against the conscience and that the date of the offense was written incorrectly by both the first degree court and the district court. Journalist Güleş was released from prison on 13 August 2021 after serving the time of the prison sentence imposed for “membership in a terrorist organization.” At the first hearing of the trial held on 21 March 2023, the court accepted the excuses presented by Güleş and his lawyer and adjourned the trial.
• The fourth hearing of the retrial in which since-shuttered Azadiya Welat daily’s former editor-in-chief İsmail Çoban faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court, at 10.20.The indictment which was prepared by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office was filed on 19 February 2015. The indictment presents news articles published on Azadiya Welat daily between 4 September - 30 September and 1 October- 21 October 2014 as evidence for the charge. Arguing that “despite numerous lawsuits brought against the daily and its former chief editors, the daily did not change its editorial policy and therefore continued acting like the [terrorist] organization’s press and thereby continued committing crimes,” the prosecutor requested that Çoban be sentenced. Began to hear the case in 2015, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court sentenced Çoban to 1 year 8 months and 25 days in prison for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and deferred the announcement of the verdict. Another lawsuit was brought against Çoban in 2021 after allegedly banned copies of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi daily were found on his person during a search at the Tarsus Prison, where Çoban was held in pre-trial detention in connection with another investigation. The Tarsus 8th Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Çoban to 2 years in prison for “conveying prohibited items to a prison or place of arrest.” After the finalization of the verdict, the Tarsus 8th Criminal Court of First Instance notified the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Reasoning that Çoban had committed an offense during the time in which the verdict for the propaganda charge was deferred, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court decided to retry Çoban. At the first hearing of the trial held on 29 November 2022, the court decided to issue writ to the Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate when the newspapers cited in the indictment were delivered to the prosecutor’s office. At the second hearing of the trial held 31 January 2023, the court decided to issue another writ to the Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to ask about the progress regarding the writ issued after the first hearing. At the third hearing of the trial held on 11 April 2023, the prosecutor presented his final opinion and requested the pronouncement of the verdict.

April 19th, Wednesday

• The 12th hearing of the trial in which journalist Ziya Çiçekçi faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court, at 11.20. The indictment presents 13 tweets which were shared on the Twitter account of Yeni Özgür Politika daily as evidence against the journalist.

*This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. The work may be used and redistributed for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).